Vibratory mold assembly



July 29, 1969 J. PEIKERT 3,457,607

' VIBRATORY MOLD ASSEMBLY Filed Dec. 20, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheeti mVENTOH'.Josi Pkikefl BY MFWMW ATTORNEYS July 29, 1969 J. PEIKERT 3,457,607

VIBRATORY MOLD ASSEMBLY Filed Dec. 20, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 305% eiker c ATTORNEYS United States Patent VIBRATORY MOLD ASSEMBLY JostPeikert, Zug, Switzerland, assiguor to Peikert Ban A.G., Zug,Switzerland Filed Dec. 20, 1966, Ser. No. 603,355 Claims priority,application Switzerland, Dec. 20, 1965, 17,614/65 Int. Cl. B28]: 1/08US. CI. 25-41 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A vibratory moldassembly having a plurality of vertically extending concrete slab moldsdefined by vertical walls supported by a plurality of beams definingbase carriers, the walls carrying a small number of vibrator carrierseach carrying a mechanical vibrator, the whole assembly being connectedtogether rigidly for permitting a small number of vibrators toeffectively vibrate all of the molds, the rigid connection beingeffected by tensioning devices connected between the base carriers andthe vibrator carriers and producing a degree of tension which creates arigid connection among all of the elements of the assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to molds forconcrete plates and particularly to an assembly constituting a batteryof such molds.

Various types of mold assemblies have already been suggested forsimultaneously molding a plurality of concrete plates, or slabs. Of theknown types are those in which the entire assembly is mounted on avibratory table which, due to the heavy weight of the mold assembly,must be sturdy and heavy and must be provided with a very powerfulvibration generator. As a result, these devices are quite expensive toproduce and costly to operate.

Other types of mold batteries employ a large number of vibrators, withat least several vibrators being associated with each mold. It will beappreciated that because a large number of vibrators must be provided,batteries of this type are expensive to produce and tend to require agreat deal of repair and maintenance.

It is a primary object of the present invention to overcome thesedrawbacks.

A more specific object of the present invention is to effectivelyvibrate a large number of concrete molds by means of but a fewvibrators.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a mold assembly,or battery, which is extremely rigid and hence capable of beingsatisfactorily vibrated by but a few vibrators.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide anarrangement which can be readily assembled and disassembled.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an arrangementwhose degree of rigidity can be readily adjusted in a simple and rapidmanner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION These and other objects according to thepresent in vention are achieved by an improved battery of vibratorymolds for manufacturing concrete slabs, which battry is of the typeincluding a plurality of casing walls disposed parallel to one anotherand separated from one another by interspaces defining slab molds, andbase carrier means Supporting the walls. According to the presentinvention, an improved assembly is obtained by providing two vibratorcarriers disposed atop the walls and 3,457,607 Patented July 29, 1969"ice extending transversely thereto, two vibrators each carried by arespective one of the vibrator carriers in the central region thereof,and bracing means connected between each end of each vibrator carrierand the base BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a frontelevational view of a vibratory battery arrangement according to thepresent invention.

FIGURE 2 is a schematic sectional view taken along the plane defined bythe line IIII of FIGURE 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The illustrated vibratory moldbattery according to the present invention includes base carrier meansconstituted by a plurality of supports, or base carriers, 1 which .areparallel to each other, these carriers 1 being supported on a foundation3 by short elastic feet 2 made, for example, of rubber. The view ofFIGURE 2 shows eleven casing walls 4 standing on the carriers 1, eachwall 4 consisting of two parallel plates 6 connected together by U-beams5. In order to simplify the illustration, the plates and beams areindicated only by heavy lines.

Horizontal angle beams 7 are connected between adjacent walls 4, at thelower parts thereof, these beams 7 serving as spacers between the wallsand also for defining the lower limits of the mold interspaces 8 intowhich the concrete for forming the plates is to be poured. The walls 4are also held apart by further spacers in the form of vertical anglebeams (not shown) which also serve to define the lateral vertical limitsof the interspaces 8. Small plates 9 extend into the upper extremitiesof the interspaces 8, these small plates being welded to the lower sidesof two vibrator carriers in the form of thick I-beams 10, the smallplates serving to maintain the beams 10 in their proper position withrespect to the walls 4.

At each side of the resulting battery there are two or more verticalbeams 11 which are connected to each other at their top and bottom bytie rods 12. In practice, these tie rods may be provided with threadedends, and the beams provided with matching threaded bores, so that therods can be readily disconnected from the beams 11 when desired.

Each of the two I-beam carriers 10 carries, at the midpoint of its upperflange, a vibrator 13 consisting of a rotary unbalance weight and anelectric drive motor whose housing is rigidly connected with the carrier10. The rigid connection between the motor housing and carrier 10 hasthe desirable effect of preventing a preferential vibration directionfrom being imparted to the carrier such .as would occur if the motorwere mounted in another manner, e.g., through the intermediary ofpendulum bearings.

Arranged near each end of each carrier 10 is a loop 14 of a steel cablewhich is held in place by suitable abutments 15 mounted on a respectiveend of the associated carrier 10. Further steel cable loops 17 run aboutthe ends of the base carrier 1, which are directly below the ends of thecarriers 10, the loops 17 being held in place by abutments 16 mounted onthe lower surfaces of base carriers 1. The loops 14 and 17 of each pairof opposing loops are connected to each other by way of bracing means inthe form of a tensioning device 18 which includes two nuts 19 which areoppositely threaded and which are connected to the respective loops byshackles 20 and hooks 21. De-

3 vice 18 further includes a screw 22 having two opposing threads eachof which engages a respective one of the nuts 19. The screw 22 carriesan arm 23 by means of which the screw 22 can be turned.

The tensioning device 18 can be readily adjusted, by rotating arm 23, toconnect rigidly the entire assembly constituting the vibrator moldbattery. To achieve this result, it is important that the sides ofplates 9 which abut against the walls 4 be slightly inclined by anamount which is not readily discernible in the drawing so that when thetensioning devices 18 are tensioned the plates 9 act as wedges whichfirmly press the opposite plates 6 of each wall 4 toward each other. Thevibratory mold battery according to the present invention can be readilyassembled and disassembled by means of a crane, and to facilitatehandling of the parts by a crane, suitable suspension means areprovided, in particular two eyes 24 on each of the carriers and two eyes25 on each of the walls 4.

The liquid concrete to be molded is brought, in suitable containers, tothe mold by means of a crane and may be poured directly into each mold 8at the top thereof, and the resulting concrete plates or slabs, areultimately removed also by a crane. To facilitate this removal, theplates may be reinforced and provided with iron loops or the like whichproject from the concrete and which allow the plates to be picked up bya crane.

The vibrator mold battery according to the present inventiondistinguishes itself favorably over heretofore known mold batteriesmainly by the simplicity of the vibrating means, consisting of theelements 13, 10, 14, 18, 17, 1, which require only two vibrators 13. Byway of comparison, certain conventional vibratory batteries have theirentire base, corresponding approximately to the carriers 1, built on avibratory table which, due to the heavy weight of the battery, must bevery sturdy and heavy and must be provided with a very powerfulvibration source. As a result, these devices are quite expensive. Inother heretofore known vibratory batteries, the vibrators areaccommodated directly in the hollow casing walls 4, there being, forexample eight vibrators in each wall. This means that in a battery forproducing ten plates, eighty-eight vibrators are needed instead of two(eleven casing walls being required to define ten molds). The costs ofsuch a vibratory battery are therefore very high to say nothing of thefact that the assembly and disassembly of the parts is substantiallymore complicated than is the case with the present invention. The sameapplies to conventional vibratory batteries in which each casing Wall isvibrated by means of vibrators which are attached to at least one of itsends.

Despite the simplicity of the vibratory means according to the presentinvention, experience has shown that the vibratory effect is more thansatisfactory so that, insofar as quality and manufacturing speeds areconcerned, the vibratory battery according to the present invention isin no way inferior to the prior art devices.

It will be understood that the above description of the presentinvention is susceptible to various modifications, changes, andadaptations and the same are intended to be comprehended within themeaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a battery of vibratory molds for manufacturing large concreteslabs and including a plurality of casing walls disposed parallel to oneanother and separated from one another by interspaces defining slabmolds, and base carrier means supporting said molds, the improvementcomprising, in combination:

(a) two vibrator carriers disposed atop said walls and extendingtransversely thereto;

(b) two vibrators, one for each said carrier, each said vibrator beingcarried by its respective carrier and being disposed at the center ofits respective carrier; and

(c) bracing means connected between each end of each said vibratorcarrier and said base carrier means for bracing said vibrator carrierswith respect to said base carrier means.

2. An arrangement as defined in claim 1 wherein said base carrier meanscomprises a plurality of base carriers extending parallel to saidvibrator carriers; said arrangement further comprises a plurality ofelastic feet supporting said base carriers; a respective one of saidbase carriers is disposed directly below each of said vibrator carriers; and said bracing means are connected between each end of saidvibrator carriers and the corresponding ends of those of said basecarriers which are disposed directly below said vibrator carriers.

3. An arrangement as defined in claim 2 wherein said bracing meanscomprise a plurality of tension applying units each associated with arespective end of one of said vibrator carriers and the correspondingend of its associated base carrier.

4. An arrangement as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said vibratorsis disposed in a housing which is rigidly connected to its respectivevibrator carrier.

5. An arrangement as defined in claim 1 wherein said bracing means holdsaid vibrator carriers, said casing walls, and said base carrier meanstogether in rigid engagement.

6. In a battery of vibratory molds for manufacturing concrete slabs andincluding a plurality of casing walls disposed parallel to one anotherand separated from one another by interspaces defining slab molds, andbase carrier means supporting said walls, the improvement comprising, incombination:

(a) two vibrator carriers disposed atop said walls and extendingtransversely thereto;

(b) two vibrators, one for each said carrier, each said vibrator beingcarried by its respective carrier and being disposed at the center ofits respective carrier;

(c) bracing means connected between each end of each said vibratorcarrier and said base carrier means for bracing said vibrator carrierswith respect to said base carrier means, and

(d) wedge-shaped spacers mounted on the lower surfaces of said vibratorcarriers, extending into the upper extremities of said interspaces, andbearing against said casing walls for applying a lateral pressure tosaid casing walls when said vibrator carriers are braced with respect tosaid base carrier means.

References Cited 2 UNITED STATES PATENTS I. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, PrimaryExaminer J. S. BROWN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 25954

